The ultimate objective of this research is to elucidate all the cellular components and processes that participate in copper metabolism. To examine metalloprotein biosynthesis under conditions which are amenable to controlled levels of copper and other bioactive metals, copper incorporation into the copper proteins of the fungus, Dactylium dendroides is being carefully examined. To follow the fate of copper in the liver, the copper proteins in each cell fraction-organelle are being identified. Time-studies of copper partitioning among all organelles coupled to the identification of binding components should provide a more detailed outline of liver copper metabolism than we now have. Relationships between normal copper metabolism in liver and Wilson's Disease are also being carefully considered. In this vein, the physiological, biochemical and pathological characteristics of a liver disease which is characterized by elevated liver copper levels in Bedlington Terriers is being evaluated as an animal model for Wilson's Disease.